Paper money receiving apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for receiving paper money or the like to be deposited at a bank or the like, comprising: means for receiving a note or the like from a depositor, means for checking the genuineness of the note received; means for temporarily storing the note the genuineness of which has been confirmed; and means for conveying the note from the storing means in one direction to accept the note and alternatively in the opposite direction to return the note to the depositor.

United States Patent [191 Nakanishi PAPER MONEY RECEIVING APPARATUSInventor: Tomoyuki Nakanishi, Kyoto, Japan Assignee: Omron TateisiElectronics Co.,

Kyoto, Japan Filed: Feb. 8, 1971 Appl. No.: 113,123

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 13, 1970 Japan 45/12975 Feb.13, 1970 Japan 45/12976 US. Cl. 194/4 R, 209/D1G. 2, 271/77, 271/86 Int.Cl. B65h 29/14, G07d 7/00 Field of Search 194/4; 222/2; 133/1; 271/77,78, 68, 86; 214/6 D, 6 DK;

209/ll1.6, 111.7, DIG. 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,064,785 11/1962 Weingart194/4 FX Oct. 16, 1973 3,108,680 10/1963 E1115 et a1. 133/1 R X3,447,655 6/1969 Tanaka et a]. 3,390,619 7/1968 Williams 214/6 D PrimaryExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerFrancis J. BartuskaAttorney-Christensen, OConnor, Gaifi'soh""&'

Havelka [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for receiving paper money or the liketo be deposited at a bank or the like, comprising: means for receiving anote or the like from a depositor, means for checking the genuineness ofthe note received; means for temporarily storing the note thegenuineness of which has been confirmed; and means for conveying thenote from the storing means in one direction to accept the note andalternatively in the opposite direction to return the note to thedepositor.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUHBT '1 ms 3765.523 SHEET 1 BF 2PAPER MONEY RECEIVING APPARATUS This invention relates to an apparatusfor receiving paper money or notes or various negotiable instrumentssuch as checks.

In recent years, automatic money dispensing machines or depositingmachines have been in wide use at banks and the like establishments forwithdrawal or deposit of money, checks or other valuable papers. Theoperations required for receiving money for the above purposes are tocheck the genuineness of the money introduced into the machine, tocalculate the value thereof and produce a corresponding electricalsignal to be applied to a suitable recorder to record the value, toconvey the money to a required place and to issue, if necessary, areceipt or the like. The money introduced into the machine must bereturned if it is false or forged, or if the customer so desires. Insuch a case, if the money is a coin, it is relatively easy to handle.However, if it is paper money, it is very difficult to handle, and acomplicated and large-sized machine would be required to handle papermoney.

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide anapparatus for receiving paper money or the like, which can efficientlyhandle notes, checks or other negotiable instruments made of relativelythin paper.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus asaforesaid which is simple in mechanism, reliable in operation and low incost of manufacture and maintenance.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus asaforesaid which can advantageously be used in an automatic moneydepositing machine.

The apparatus of the invention is provided with means for checking thegenuineness of a note or bill introduced into the apparatus, a chamberfor temporarily storing the note which has been determined as genuine bythe checking means, and means disposed in the chamber for conveying thenote alternatively in two opposite directions. When a customer ordepositor presses a push button switch after having introduced a certainnumber of genuine notes or bills, the conveying means conveys them inone direction to accept them, and when the customer pushes a cancel orreturn push button switch, the conveying means conveys the notes in theopposite direction to return them to the customer.

Each note that has been introduced into the apparatus is checked withrespect to its genuineness. When it has been found genuine, it is nippedby a pair of endless conveyor belts to be drawn into the storing chamberas far as right above the previously mentioned conveying means,whereupon the two belts release the note they have been holding, so thatthe note gravitates to lie on the previously mentioned conveying meansor on the previous note already lying thereon. When the note is releasedoff from the nipping belts, it falls in a horizontal condition. If itfalls fluttering, however, it may not properly lie on the previous oneon the conveying means. To avoid this, a striking bar may be provided toforce the note to fall down in a horizontal state to be properly piledon the previously piled notes on the conveying means.

In one embodiment of the invention, the lower one of the two nippingbelts is moved laterally downwardly away from the upper one to releasethe note. In another embodiment of the invention, the lower one of thenipping belts is first moved laterally downwardly away from the upperone, thereby releasing the note, and then lowered directly downwardly soas to be used as a part of the reversible conveying means disposedbelow. In this second embodiment, the lower one of the nipping belts ismoved downwardly into contact with the reversible conveying belt so asto nip therebetween one edge of the notes that have been piled thereonand convey them in either of the opposite directions.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdescription of some preferred embodiments thereof with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals in differentfigures denote corresponding parts, and wherein;

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the interior mechanism of theapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the interior mechanism of another embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5 5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a housing 10 having a front panel 11facing toward the customer who uses the apparatus. The panel II isprovided with an inlet slot 12, an indicating window 13, a cardreceiving frame 14 and a return slot 15. The notes or bills (or checksor other negotiable instruments) to be deposited are introduced into theslot 12 one by one, and in the window 13 operating instructions, thevalue of the money introduced and other necessary informations areindicated. The customer is supposed to put his or her card in the frame14, which is then pushed upward as indicated by an arrow 17 into a cardreading box 16. Inside the box, the card identification number and otherinformation recorded on the card are read electrically or mechanically,and on the basis of the information read, the money introduced is placedon the customers account in the banking system. When the customer wishesto have the money returned to him, it will be delivered out through thereturn slot 15 upon such request by the customer.

Turning to FIGS. 2 and 3, showing the interior mechanism of the housing10, the note inserted through the slot 12 is nipped and drawn in by apair of endless belts 21 and 22 arranged one upon the other. A suitabledetector, not shown, detects the forward edge of the .note introducedand produces a detection signal to be applied to a suitable drive, notshown, which drives the belts 21 and 22 to draw in the nipped note.While the note is being drawn in by the belts, a genuineness checker 23provided along the path of the belts checks whether the note is genuineor forged. If it is recognized as genuine, it is moved farther inwardlyinto a temporary storing chamber 24, whereas if it is a forgery, thebelts 21 and 22 are turned in the opposite direction to return theintroduced note to the inlet slot 12.

The note that has been drawn into the storing chamber 24 by the belts 21and 22 is then nipped and farther drawn in by another pair of belts 25and 26 provided in the chamber 24. A suitable detector, not shown, maybe provided to detect the forward edge of the note that has been broughtto the front ends of the belts 25 and 26 so as to produce a detectionsignal to start the movement of the belts 25 and 26. The upper belt 25is a drive belt while the lower belt 26 is a free belt driven byfrictional contact with the upper drive belt 25. The note or bill K thathas been brought by the belts 21 and 22 onto the belts 25 and 26 has itsone longitudinal side edge nipped by the belts 25 and 26 as shown inFIG. 3. As the note is conveyed by the belts 25 and 26, its forward edgeis detected by a detector 27 comprising a light source 28 and aphotoelectric element 29 arranged in a spaced apart, opposed relation.When the forward edge of the note K has come to be interposed betweenthe light source 28 and the photoelectric element 29 therebyintercepting the light from the source 28 into the element 29, adetection signal is produced which causes the motion of the drive belt25 to stop on the one hand and an electromagnet 31 to be energized onthe other, whereupon a plunger 32 is pulled upward. To the lower end ofthe plunger 32 there is connected one end of an L-shaped lever 34, theother end of which supports the pulleys 35 and 36 of the lower belt 26.The lever 34 is pivoted by a pin 33 to a fixed member not shown of thehousing. Therefore, when the plunger 32 is pulled upward, the lever 34is turned counterclockwise about the pin 33 so that the belt 26 is movedaway from the upper belt 25 int a position shown by dashed lines in FIG.3, whereupon the bill that has until then been held between the belts 25and 26 gravitates in a horizontal state. After a predetermined period oftime, the electromagnet 31 is deenergized so that the belt 26 is raisedto the original position to be ready for the next note or bill.

When the electromagnet 31 is energized, another electromagnet 41 is alsoenergized, whereupon the plunger 42 is pulled down. The upper end of theplunger 42 is pivotally connected to a lever 44, one end of which isconnected by a pivot pin 43 to a fixed member, not shown, of theapparatus. A striking bar 45 is secured to the other end of the lever44. Normally, the bar 45 is held above the note K one side edge of whichis held by the belts 25 and 26. However, when the electromagnet 41 isenergized, the lever 44 and consequently the striking bar 45 is turnedclockwise about the pin 43 down to the position shown by a dashed line,and during this downward movement the bar 45 strikes the upper surfaceof the note gravitating to accelerate the falling speed thereof. After apredetermined period of time the electromagnet 41 is deenergized so thatthe striking bar 45 is returned to the original position ready for thenext operation.

In the lower portion of the housing there is provided a conveyer belt 45which is driven by a motor 46 to run selectively in opposite directions.The note K falling down in the above mentioned manner lies on theconveyer belt 45. If a plurality of notes are introduced through theslot 12 one after another, they are conveyed one by one by the belts 21and 22, and then by the belts 25 and 26 into the storing chamber 24 andfinally lie piled on the belt 45 as shown at K in FIG. 3.

When the depositor has finished introducing all the notes he desires todeposit, the indication in the window 13 requires him to press a pushbutton switch 18 provided on the front panel 11 of the apparatus. Whenthe switch is actuated, the motor 46 is energized to drive the belt 45in the direction of an arrow 47, so that the notes piled thereon aremoved to, say, a safe, not shown, through a slot 48.

There is a case where after having introduced some notes into themachine, the customer changes his mind and wishes to have the notesreturned to him. In such a case, he may press a push button switch 19 onthe front panel, whereupon the motor 46 is rotated so as to drive thebelt 47 in the direction opposite to that of the arrow 47 till the notespiled on the belt 45 are brought to a chute 49, on which they slide downto the return outlet 15.

Since notes or bills are made of relatively thin paper, they are likelyto be bent, wrinkled or entangled about an element such as a rollprovided in the machine and cannot be properly brought to the requiredposition. For example, if the arrangement were such that the notes thathave passed the genuineness checker were directly brought onto theconveyer belt 45, they would fall off from the inner ends of the belts21 and 22 in a disorderly manner such as shown by dashed lines in FIG.2, so that they could not be properly piled one upon another. Inaccordance with the invention, however, the pair of belts 25 and 26 nipone side edge of the note and conveys it in a horizontal condition asfar as right above the belt 45, where the belt 26 is moved away from thebelt 25 thereby releasing the note, so that the note falls down in ahorizontal state to lie on the belt 45 or piled properly on the notepreviously lying thereon. Therefore, it becomes easier to convey thenotes to a required place. Since air resists the note gravitating in ahorizontal condition, the striking bar 45 helps accelerate the fallingspeed of the note, with resulting decrease in the time required for theoperation.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the invention, wherein the belt26 is used to help the operation of the belt 45. As shown in FIG. 5, thebelt 26 is disposed right above the belt 45 in a parallel relationthereto. The belt 26 cooperates with the belt 25 to nip and draw in andthen release the note in the same manner as in FIGS. 1 3. However, whenthe push button switch 18 or 19 is pressed, a motor 61 is energized torotate a cam 62. A lever 63 is urged by a spring, not shown, against thecam 62, so that upon rotation of the cam 62 the lever 63 is turnedcounter-clockwise about a pivot pin 64. A frame 65 is secured to theouter end of the lever 63 and supports the electromagnet 31, the plunger32, the lever 34 and the belt 26. The lever is pivoted to the frame 65as at 33'. As the cam 62 is turned counter-clockwise from the positionshown in FIG. 4, the frame 65 with the belt 26 lowers. After the firstquarter of a revolution of the cam 62, the belt 26 comes into contactwith the belt 45 as shown in dashed line in FIG. 4 or 5, so that thebelts 26 and 45 hold the notes lying on the belt 45. A suitable devicenot shown detects the phase of rotation of the cam 62 and causes thebelt 45 to be driven so that the belts 26 and 45 convey the notes theyare holding. The arrangement is such that if it is the switch 18 thathas been pressed the belts 26 and 45 convey the notes rightward in FIG.4 to accept them, while if it is the switch 19 that has been pressed thebelts convey the notes leftward to return them through the slot 15. Theconveying operation is conducted during the next half of a revolution ofthe cam 62. Then for the next quarter of a revolution of the cam, thelever 63 is rotated in the opposite direction to raise the frame 65 tothe original position.

In this case, it is not necessary to hold the entire area of the notebetween the belts 26 and 45, but it is sufficient to hold only one sideedge of the piled notes as shown in FIG. 5. In the embodiment of FIGS. 4and 5, the belt 26 is used to cooperate with the belt 45, so that thenotes can be conveyed without fail and no particular belt is requiredfor the purpose.

The striking bar 45 with its drive means may be applied to thearrangement of FIGS. 4 and 5, and the lower belt 26 may be so arrangedas to be able to brought into contact with the belt 45 in the embodimentof FIGS. 1 3 just as in FIGS. 4 5.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for receiving paper money or the like, comprising:

means for receiving notes or thelike introduced into the apparatus oneafter another, said receiving means comprising means for checking thegenuineness of each said note, means for accepting each said note whichhas been found genuine by said checking means, and means for causingeach said note to drop substantially horizontally, said causing meanscomprising a pair of horizontal endless belts disposed one above theother, each of said endless belts having a top run and a bottom run, thelower one of which belts is movable away from the upper one, the movingof said lower one defining a continuous space between the bottom run ofsaid upper belt and the top run of said lower belt and causing each saidnote to drop substantially horizontally; means for temporarily storing aplurality of successively dropped notes, each of said notes, after afirst dropped note, coming to rest substantially on top of a previouslydropped note, forming a stack of said dropped notes; and means forconveying said stacked notes alternatively in two opposing directions inresponse to a signal produced upon completion of introduction of asuccession of said notes into said checking means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said temporary storing means andsaid conveying means comprises an endless conveyor belt.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further including a striking bar forstriking the note that is dropping from said pair of belts, and meansfor driving said striking bar.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the lower endless belt is downwardlymovable, after all the notes have dropped from said belts, onto saidconveyor belt on which said notes are stacked, so that said lower beltand said conveyor belt sandwich said stacked notes and convey them.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 further including a striking bar forstriking said dropping note to accelerate the dropping speed thereof andmeans for driving said bar.

6. An apparatus for receiving paper money or the like, comprising:

means for receiving a note or the like;

means for checking the genuineness of said note;

means for temporarily storing said note that has been recognized asgenuine;

first means for conveying said note stored in said storing means, andbeing operable in response to a signal produced upon completion ofintroduction of said note into said receiving means to convey said notein one direction to accept the same and alternately in response to asignal produced upon request by the customer who introduced said note toconvey said note in the opposite direction to return said note to saidcustomer; and

second means for conveying said note, the genuineness of which has beenrecognized by said checking means, from said receiving means to saidstoring means, said second conveying means comprising a pair ofhorizontal endless belts disposed one upon the other, so that the beltshold said note while they are conveying the same, the lower one of saidendless belts being movable away from the upper one,

thereby releasing said note, as far down as it comes into contact withsaid first conveying means, so

that said lower belt and said first conveying means holds the notes onsaid first conveying means and conveys them.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further including a striking bar forstriking the note that has been released from said pair of belts toaccelerate the falling speed thereof. l

1. An apparatus for receiving paper money or the like, comprising: meansfor receiving notes or the like introduced into the apparatus one afteranother, said receiving means comprising means for checking thegenuineness of each said note, means for accepting each said note whichhas been found genuine by said checking means, and means for causingeach said note to drop substantially horizontally, said causing meanscomprising a pair of horizontal endless belts disPosed one above theother, each of said endless belts having a top run and a bottom run, thelower one of which belts is movable away from the upper one, the movingof said lower one defining a continuous space between the bottom run ofsaid upper belt and the top run of said lower belt and causing each saidnote to drop substantially horizontally; means for temporarily storing aplurality of successively dropped notes, each of said notes, after afirst dropped note, coming to rest substantially on top of a previouslydropped note, forming a stack of said dropped notes; and means forconveying said stacked notes alternatively in two opposing directions inresponse to a signal produced upon completion of introduction of asuccession of said notes into said checking means.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said temporary storing means and said conveying meanscomprises an endless conveyor belt.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 furtherincluding a striking bar for striking the note that is dropping fromsaid pair of belts, and means for driving said striking bar.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein the lower endless belt is downwardlymovable, after all the notes have dropped from said belts, onto saidconveyor belt on which said notes are stacked, so that said lower beltand said conveyor belt sandwich said stacked notes and convey them. 5.The apparatus of claim 4 further including a striking bar for strikingsaid dropping note to accelerate the dropping speed thereof and meansfor driving said bar.
 6. An apparatus for receiving paper money or thelike, comprising: means for receiving a note or the like; means forchecking the genuineness of said note; means for temporarily storingsaid note that has been recognized as genuine; first means for conveyingsaid note stored in said storing means, and being operable in responseto a signal produced upon completion of introduction of said note intosaid receiving means to convey said note in one direction to accept thesame and alternately in response to a signal produced upon request bythe customer who introduced said note to convey said note in theopposite direction to return said note to said customer; and secondmeans for conveying said note, the genuineness of which has beenrecognized by said checking means, from said receiving means to saidstoring means, said second conveying means comprising a pair ofhorizontal endless belts disposed one upon the other, so that the beltshold said note while they are conveying the same, the lower one of saidendless belts being movable away from the upper one, thereby releasingsaid note, as far down as it comes into contact with said firstconveying means, so that said lower belt and said first conveying meansholds the notes on said first conveying means and conveys them.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6, further including a striking bar for striking thenote that has been released from said pair of belts to accelerate thefalling speed thereof.